Collapsible winder shaft



March 5, 1940. w. H. LIEBER COLLAPSIBLE WINDER SHAFT Filed Nov. 28, 1938ATTORNEY- Patented Mar. 5, 1940 UNITED. STATES COLLAPSIBLE WINDEB SHAFTWilliam H. Lieber, Wauwatosa, Win, assignor to D. J. MurrayManufacturing 00., Wausau, Wis, a corporation of Wisconsin 3ApplicatlonNovember 28, 1938, Serial ,No. 242,737

' 2 Claims. (01. 242-72) This invention relates to improvements in theconstruction and operation of winder shafts for producing rollsof paper,and relates more specifically to an improved collapsible winder shaft 6assemblage adapted to be readily removed from the paper rolls formedthereon.

Generally defined, an object of the'present invention is to provide anew and useful collapsible winder shaft assemblage which is ex- 1tremely simple and durable in construction and which is moreover highlyeflective in use.

It has long been, common practice in the paper industry, to utilizeso-called winder shafts for facilitating the production of rolls ofpaper of various dimensions. In order to permit ready removal of theseshafts after the paper has been rolled tightlyv thereabout, the shaftsare ordinarily formed of two approximately semi-circular sectionsinterconnected by a. series of parallel l0 disks or, links, the oppositeends of which are connected by pivot pins to the respective'sections. Byrelatively longitudinally shifting the two sections of such a shaftagainst'the ex.- panding action of a spring, the sections may be broughttoward each other or collapsed due to tilting of the connecting links,thereby diminishing the shaft diameter and thus permitting freewithdrawal of the shaft axially from within the roll of paper. When thecollapsing 80 force is released, the spring automatically expands theshaft to its maximum diameter ready for reception of a subsequent rollof paper, by causing the connecting links to again assume positionsnormal to the longitudinal shaft axis, and

85 in. some cases special stops have been provided in order to preventundesirable overthrow of the links. a

Because of the fact that the pressure to which such shafts are subjectedduring rolling of the a. paper thereon, is enormous, the relativelyfrail link pivot pins which must necessarily be used because of limitedavailable space, tend to bend and thereby prevent free collapse andexpansion of the shafts. In order to relieve-these 48 pins of thisabnormal pressure, it has heretofore beenproposed to snugly confine theopposite ends of the links in alined'grooves or pockets formed in therelatively movable shaft sections, and to provide semi-circular ends forthe links, gen- 0 erated about the respective pin axes andhaving rollingline contact with the bottoms of the respective pockets. With thisproposed structure, the links have direct line contact at their op!posite extreme ends with the .two otherwise separated shaft sections,and thus form struts which by virtue of these line contacts are intendedto relieve the pivot pins of bending pressures. When such an assemblageis new and properly constructed, the struts will probably function ascontemplated, but due to repeated 5 collapse and expansion of the shaft,and also due to the high pressure applied at the lines of contact, thelink ends will eventually wear and will become distorted so that thepivot pins are no longer protected against lateral pressures l0 tendingto bend the same. The proposed assemblage must also be very carefullyand accurately constructed so as to function properly, and special stopsfunctioning independently of the links must be provided in order toprevent l6 overthrow of the latter.

The present invention therefore contemplates provision of a simplifiedand improved winder shaft assemblage whereinthe connecting linksareconverted into direct struts interposed be- 20 tween the expanded shaftsections, without necessity of utilizing rolling contact between thelinks and shaft sections, thus eliminating necessity of extreme accuracyand care in construction and assemblage and also avoiding exof the linksandthus eliminate necessity of providing special stops. The struts ofthe present improvement contact the bottoms of the link con- 35 fininggrooves or pockets only when the shaft isfully expanded, and are freelyswingable about their pivot pins when the shaft is being collapsedorexpanded with'out engaging the groove bottoms. 40

A clear conception of an embodiment of the present invention, and of themode. of constructing and of utilizing collapsible winder shafts builtin accordance with the improvement, may be had by referring to thedrawing accompany- 5 ing and forming a part of this specificationwherein like reference characters designate the same or similar parts inthe various views.

Fig. 1 is a part sectional side view of one of the collapsible windershafts showing the same fully expanded but with the manipulating leverin place;

Fig. 2 is a similar view of the winder shaft of Fig. 1, but showing theassemblage collapsed with the aid of the manipulating lever;

. to paper roll winder shafts, it is not the inten tion to therebyunnecessarily restrict the scope and utility of th improvement,

Referring to the drawing, the improved winder shaftassemblagespecifically illustrated therein, comprises in general two complementaryapproximately semi-cylindrical shaft sections 8, I; a series of similarlinks 8 each having its opposite ends swingably connected to the shaftsections 8, 'l by means of pivot pins 8, I8 respectively; and acompression spring ll coactlng with spaced lugs l2, l3 formed on theshaft sections 6, '1 respectively and tending at all times to. expandthe shaft to its maximum diameter. 1 I

The shaft sections 8, I are preferably formed of a solid metal barrather than of tubing, 'and the main section 8 is provided with theusual end journal portions I4 which are of lesser diameter than themedial portionof the shaft.

The auxiliary shaft section I is disposed within a lateral recess in themain section 6, and both sections 6, I have alined longitudinal groovesl5 preferably milled therein, and in which the links 8 are snuglyconfined but freely swingable. The pivot pins 8, III extend across thesegrooves 18 and are fastened to the respective shaft sections 8; I at theopposite sides of the grooves; and the medial groove portion I6 withinwhich the com-' pression spring II is confined, may be somewhat enlargedto confine the spring without interfering with its free operation. Thetwo shaft sections 8, I are also provided with alined transverse open,-

ings I1, l8 respectively adapted for reception'ofa shaft collapsinglever l8 as shown in Figs. 1 and e 2, but this lever I8 is normallyremoved from the shaft assembly when paper is being rolled thereon.

Each of the improved connecting links'8 which are confined within thealined grooves I5 by the pivot pins 8, I0, is of special formation asshownin detail in Figs. 3, 4 and 5. Each link8 has opposite parallel endsurfaces 28 which are adapted to coact with the plane parallel bottoms2| of the corresponding grooves l5 when the sectionsifl are separated orexpanded to the maximum ex- .tent as in Figs. 1, 3'and 5; but thediagonally opposite portions 22 of each link8 are cut away'at an angleso as to remove the link ends from com tact with the groove bottoms 2|and to retain said ends out of contact with these bottoms-except whenthe shaft is fully expanded. The structure of thelinks 8 and thelocationof the pivot pins 8, l8 isobviously such that when the links approachparallel positionsperpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the splitshaft, the end sur faces 28 engage the groove bottoms 2| throughout theentire areasof the surfaces 28 and thus relieve the pivot pins 8,10 fromlateral pressure due to rolling of the paper about the winder shaft; butwhen the shaft is collapsed, the surfaces 20 immediately disengage thebottoms 28 and the cut-away portions 22 prevent subsequent j engagementbetween the link ends and the groove movethe same from a roll of paper.

proved links 8 are of like construction and are" bottoms while displacedrelative to each other, or while the shaft is collapsed. Besidesproviding thrust surfaces at the ends of the links 8, the plane surfaces28 alsogserve as stops for preventing overthrow of thelinks 8 beyondnormal. due to the action of trated in Fig. 1, and the handle or lever18 has been removed from the openings l1, l8, paper may be rolled abouttheshaft assemblage in the usual manner. The end surfaces 28 of theseveral links are then in contact with the plane bottoms the shaftsections 0, 1 are being Y When the shaft has been fully expanded asillus- 2| of the grooves ll, so that the links 8 provide] struts whichdirectly assume the external pressures tending to collapse the shaft,without subjecting the pivot pins 8, I 8 to: these pressures. The springwhich constantly. tends to expand the shaft, and thereby also tends tomove the links 8 perpendicular to the shaft axis, cooperates with theabutment surfaces 28 and with the groove bottoms to form automaticstopspi'or preventing overthrow of the links, so that no additional-orspecial stops are necessary.

After a roll of paperhas beenwound upon the same, then'i'anipulatinglever l8 may be inserted within the openings I1, I 8 andswung to the posi-v tion shown in Fig. 2. Thelinks '8 will then betilted against the action of the spring"! Land the shaft section "I.will be brought toward and-"into direct engagement with the section 8,therebyv collapsing the assemblage and'diminishing the external shaftdiameter. 1 The lever l8 may then be utilized to withdraw the windershaft from withinthe roll of paper, and after such withshaft, and if itbecomes desirable to remove the 8, I8, and are guided in theconfining-grooves l5 of the sections 8, I. v 1 From' the foregoingdetailed description it will be .apparent that the present inventionprovides an extremely simpleand durable winder shaft assemblage which ishighly eflective in use and may be readily manipulated to collapse andre- The imtherefore interchangeable, and need not be ma-' chined withextreme accuracy except as to dis-: 'tance between the end surfaces .28.The struc ture requires no special stops other than the sur faces'IUffOl preventing undesirable overthrow of the links 8, and the links-8maybe readilyinserted and removed and have, their pivot pins 8, it wellprotected ,againstexcessive' pressures at all times.

The surface contact .aflorded by the link surfaces 28 andthegroovebottoms 2|, eliminates possible wearsuch-as is apt to result from theprior line rolling contact, andthe improved. assemblage has proven;highly practical in actualoperation.- While a spring ll of the helicalcompression type has been specificallyshown, this spring may ob- 'Itshould be understood that it is not desired to limit the inventionto'the exact details of construction or to the precise mode of operation,herein shown and described, for various modifications within the scopeof the claims may occur to persons skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. A winder shaft comprising, a pair of elongated approximatelyhalf-shaft sections having parallel grooves facing each other andprovided with parallel bottom surfaces and alined corresponding sidesurfaces, a series of parallel links each having its opposite endsdisposed within said parallel grooves and each being provided with fiatend and side surfaces the latter of which constantly engage said grooveside surfaces and the former of which contact the adjacent groove bottomsurfaces only when said links are disposed perpendicular to thelongitudinal shaft axis, and a pivot pin swingably connecting eachend ofeach link with the adjacent shaft section at the opposite sides of thecorresponding groove, said pins and said links being disposed and formedto cause said link end surfaces to move out of contact with said groovebottom surfaces when said shaft sections are moved toward each other andto maintain surface contact with said groove bottom surfaces only whensaid links are in said perpendicular position.

2. A winder shaft comprising, a pair of elongated approximatelyhalf-shaft sections having parallel grooves facing each other andprovided with parallel bottom plane surfaces and alined correspondingplane side surfaces, a series of parallel rectangular links each havingits opposite ends disposed within said parallel grooves and each beingprovided with plane end and side surfaces the latter of which constantlyengage said groove side surfaces and the former of which contact theadjacent groove bottom surfaces only when the links are disposedperpendicular to the longitudinal shaft axis, and a pivot pin swingablyconnecting each end of each link with the adjacent shaft section at theopposite sides of the corresponding groove and remote from the groovebottom, each of said links having its diagonally opposite cornersremoved and said pivot pins being disposed to cause said link endsurfaces to move out of contact with said groove bottom when said shaftsections are moved toward each other and to maintain surface contactwith the groove bottom surfaces and relieve said pins from lateralpressure tending to move the shaft sections together only when saidlinks are in said perpen- 25 dicular position.

WIILIAM H. LIEBER.

